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A monumental fixture at the bottom of the Premier League is set to take place on Tuesday night as Leeds United host Leicester City. Both sides are just narrowly outside the bottom three as things stand with Leeds sitting in 16th place and Leicester in 17th.
Despite being a place and a point ahead of tomorrow’s opponents, Leeds fans will be the more concerned of the two sets of supporters given how things have gone in recent weeks. Two heavy defeats at home to Crystal Palace and Liverpool were followed up with a feeble effort away to Fulham at the weekend. It has left Javi Gracia’s men in dire need of a result tomorrow night.
The Foxes have also been on a dismal run of form of late, however, they did manage to turn their fortunes around at the weekend when they overcame Wolves at the King Power Stadium. A 75-minute winner from Timothy Castagne earned them a vital three points that saw them leapfrog Everton into 17th.
The relegation six-pointer at Elland Road is set to kick off at 20:00 UK time and viewers in the United Kingdom will be able to watch it on BT Sport 1.
Leeds United Team News: Is Tyler Adams Still Injured?
After seeing his side concede five goals to Crystal Palace and then six to Liverpool, Javi Gracia decided to make two defensive changes for the match against Fulham at the weekend and the Whites did look more defensively sound. Liam Cooper came back into the side for Pascal Strujik while Max Wober returned from a four-game injury layoff to replace Junior Firpo a left back.
Cooper was arguably Leeds’ best player at Craven Cottage while Wober has looked like the best defender at the club since signing from Red Bull Salzburg in January. Unfortunately for Leeds, both men haven’t been able to train since the game against Fulham and are doubts for the crunch game with Leicester.
Another vote of confidence for Meslier from Gracia. "Itβs not only about the keeper, itβs about the team. If we are better I think the keeper will be better too."
Asked if Wober/Cooper are fit for tomorrow. Says there are concerns and he's not sure if those doubts will be ready.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) April 24, 2023
Elsewhere, Tyler Adams – a player Leeds are badly missing in the middle of the park – is still unavailable with injury with no timeline set on his return. It means that Gracia will likely continue with the midfield pairing of Marc Roca and Weston McKennie.
Up front, Gracia has been tinkering in recent weeks and Wilfriend Gnonto has had to settle for a place on the bench. Given the importance of the game against Leicester, though, it would be a shock if the young Italian wasn’t recalled.
Leicester City Team News: James Maddison Expected to Return from Illness
Interim Leicester manager, Dean Smith, was dealt a hammer blow before the game against Wolves when star man, James Maddison, was ruled out with illness. Fortunately for Smith, Leicester were still able to pick up all three points without their playmaker and he is now due to return to the starting eleven for the match at Elland Road.
Two other bits of good news in the Leicester camp are the fact that Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy will be fit to play. Barnes has missed Leicester’s last two games with a hamstring injury while Vardy was forced off at half time against Wolves with an ankle problem. Smith will be particularly pleased about the availability of Harvey Barnes as the Englishman has netted in each of his last five games against Leeds.
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— BBC Sport Leicester (@BBCRLSport) April 24, 2023
Daka and Tete will likely make way for Maddison and Barnes while Jamie Vardy will retain his place as the sides’ lone striker. At the back, Caglar Soyuncu will play again as he looked to continue his resurgence under Dean Smith.
In terms of long-term absentees, Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, Jannik Vestergaard and Ryan Bertrand are all still out.
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